With the availability of a practical extraterrestrial payload delivery system, science and engineering research and development facilities have accelerated their efforts to design and construct orbital systems (e.g. space station and orbiting defense weaponry), where advantage can be taken of weightlessness and the absence of the electromagnetic absorption and reflection characteristics of the earth's atmosphere. One source of power for such systems is expected to be large, solar energy devices which will use parabolic surfaces in order to concentrate the sun's energy for generating the vast quantities of electricity projected to be used.
Although a variety of solar concentrator designs have been proposed for use in space applications, most involve relatively large, bulky concentrator structures which are limited in potential for growth by their mass and stowed volume. A typical solar concentrator assembly incorporates a three-dimensional, compound-curved structure shaped to conform to a paraboloid of revolution. Because of its compound curve as well as its large size, the construction, packaging and successful deployment of such a structure is a costly and complex exercise. The manufacture of compound curved reflector elements involves complex tooling components and consequential high fabrication costs.